Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) applied to turbine airfoils are well known in the art for protecting parts such as blades and vanes from elevated operating temperatures within a combustion turbine engine. However, TBCs are subject to degradation over their service life, and need to be inspected periodically to assess the integrity of the coating. In the past, inspection of coated turbomachinery components has been performed by partially disassembling the combustion turbine engine and performing visual inspections on individual components. In-situ visual inspections may be performed without engine disassembly by using a borescope inserted into a combustion turbine engine, but such procedures are labor intensive, time consuming, and require that the combustion turbine engine be shut down, and the rotating parts held stationary for the inspection. In addition, it has been proposed to image turbine blades with a sensor, such as an IR camera, positioned in a port in the inner turbine casing.